Lenticular image product with zoom image effect

ABSTRACT

A lenticular image product comprising: a lenticular material having an array of lenticules with cylindrical lenses; and a lenticular image associated with the lenticular material, the lenticular image having an original image having a wide angle view and at least one final image having a narrow angle view created from the original image, such that tilting of the lenticular image product produces a zoom effect between the original and final images.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates in general to lenticular image productsand more particularly to a lenticular image product having a zoom effectand method and apparatus for making such a lenticular image product.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Lenticular image products include an array of cylindrical-shapedlenses (lenticules) in a lenticular material and a sequence of spatiallyinterleaved images that are viewed through the lenticular material sothat different ones of the interleaved images are viewed at differentangles by the viewer. One image effect produced by the lenticular imageis a depth or stereoscopic effect where the lenticules are orientedvertically so that one eye views one image of a stereo pair and theother eye views another image from the stereo pair. As the lenticularimage product is rotated about the vertical axis, the viewer sees otherstereo images of the same object or scene from different viewing anglesgiving the effect of “looking around” the object or scanning the scene.

[0003] Another image effect produced by the lenticular image is that ofmotion where different images in a motion image sequence are viewed byboth eyes, while changing the angle at which the lenticular image isviewed. Thus, in motion imaging, the lenticules of the lenticular imageproduct are oriented in a horizontal direction and the lenticularproduct is tilted about the horizontal axis.

[0004] Typically, lenticular images are formed from several differentoriginal views, either of the same object from different viewpoints orof the same object(s) as it progresses through a motion sequence. In theformer case, the different views can be captured with a series ofcameras positioned at different locations pointed at the same object, orthe different views can be taken with the same camera which ispositioned at the different locations, sometimes with the aid of apositioning structure. In the latter case, the same camera is usuallyused to capture the sequence of motion views. In all of thesesituations, the cost and complexity of equipment makes the formation ofthe lenticular image product beyond the means of many customers.

[0005] Many situations arise where it is desirable to produce alenticular image having a zoom effect. Typically, this effect isproduced by means of a series of images taken with a still or videocamera having a zoom lens. At least the wide angle view and the closeupview are used along with one or more intermediate angle views to producethe zoom effect. Using this technique involves capturing and reproducingmultiple original views and the inability to later modify the zoomsubject or sequence.

[0006] There is thus a need to provide a lenticular image product havinga zoom effect combining simple, cost effective image acquisition withgreat flexibility in composition and display.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] According to the present invention there is provided a solutionto the problems and fulfillment of the needs enumerated above.

[0008] According to a feature of the present invention there is provideda lenticular image product comprising: a lenticular material having anarray of lenticules with cylindrical lenses; and a lenticular imageassociated with the lenticular material, the lenticular image having anoriginal image having a wide angle view and at least one final imagehaving a narrow angle view created from the original image, such thattilting of the lenticular image product produces a zoom effect betweenthe original and final images.

[0009] According to another feature of the present invention there isprovided a method of producing a lenticular image product having a zoomeffect comprising: providing an original image having a wide angle view;creating at least one final image having a narrow angle view from saidoriginal image; and forming a lenticular image product from saidoriginal and final views.

[0010] According to a further feature of the present invention, there isprovided a lenticular image product comprising: a lenticular materialhaving an array of lenticules with cylindrical lenses; and a lenticularimage associated with said lenticular material, said lenticular imageshaving one or more additional images which have been created from asingle original image.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECT OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The invention provides a lenticular image product having a zoomeffect using digital processing methods. It combines simple, costeffective image acquisition with great flexibility in composition anddisplay associated with the ability to manipulate images electronically.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012]FIG. 1 is a sectional, diagrammatic view of a lenticular imageproduct.

[0013]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of apparatus for implementing thepresent invention.

[0014] FIGS. 3-7 are diagrammatic views useful in explaining the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown lenticular image product10 includes lenticular material 12 having an array of aligned lenticules101, 102, 103, 104, with respective cylindrical lenses 101 a, 102 a, 103a, 104 a. A lenticular image 105 is associated with lenticular material12. Lenticular image 105 includes a sequence of frames havinginterleaved strips 106 from each frame associated with each lenticule101-104. Cylindrical lenses 101 a-104 a focus to lenticular image 105and a specific set of strips 106 constituting a frame are seen at aparticular viewing position by observer 107. As the viewing positionchanges either by tilting product 10 or by movement of the viewerrelative to product 10, different frames are seen by observer 107.Generally the number of frames in a lenticular image corresponds to thenumber of strips behind each lenticule.

[0016] Lenticular image 105 can be an image formed in an image bearinglayer (e.g., photosensitive layer) 105 a coated on the back oflenticular material 12 by a laser printer or a contact printer.Lenticular image 105 can also be printed on lenticular material 12 bywell known techniques such as thermal printing, ink jet printing,electrophotographic printing, conventional ink printing, etc. Lenticularimage 105 may also be formed in a separate element which is then alignedwith and laminated to lenticular material 12.

[0017] Lenticules 101-104 may be oriented in any direction, buttypically are oriented in a horizontal or vertical direction for tiltingabout their respective axes.

[0018]FIG. 2 shows apparatus 200 for generating lenticular imageeffects. Source image material 201 (e.g., one or more image frames) isscanned by scanner 202 and passed to computer 203. Alternatively, animage captured with a digital camera 208 is read directly into computer203. Computer 203 generates a digital lenticular image filecorresponding to the lenticular image 105. The digital lenticular imagefile includes a sequence of image frames that have been formed intoimage strips which are interleaved. A set of image strips are providedfor each lenticule. Each set includes a strip representing each imageframe.

[0019] The digital lenticular image file is passed to printer 206 whichprints the lenticular image, either on the smooth side of lenticularmaterial 12 such that the image strips 106 are in alignment withlenticules 101-104, or on a separate image bearing member which isbrought into alignment with lenticular material 12 and bonded to it.

[0020] The creation of the content of the lenticular image 105 involvesthe process of selecting the content of each of the image framesconstituting lenticular image 105. This is done by the operator ofcomputer 203 selecting the proper sequence of frames. The operator worksinteractively with the computer display choosing frames until anappropriate sequence of frames is chosen. A simulation of the lenticularimage can also be displayed prior to giving the command to print theimage.

[0021] According to the present invention, a lenticular image having azoom effect is produced from a single original image. The original imagehas a wide angle view of a scene such as a landscape or a building or ofa group of individuals such as a family group or a sports team. FIG. 3shows a typical group portrait including individuals 301, 302, and 303in a still photograph 300. To produce a “zooming in” lenticular image ofa particular image, a sequence of frames are created initially from theentire photograph and then frames are selected in such a way that thereis the appearance of zooming in to a person of interest within thephotograph.

[0022] To achieve this effect, the photographer or person ordering theimage must indicate who the person of interest is in the photo theysupply. This can be done by putting the print in a clear or semi-clearenvelope and marking on the envelope corresponding to the position ofthe person of interest a circle or rectangle corresponding to the finalview of the sequence. The original view is a wide angle view and thefinal view is a narrow angle view. Intermediate views have viewingangles intermediate these views. Both the initial view and the finalview will generally include multiple frames so as to provide a clearimage of both the whole group and the person(s) of interest.

[0023] In order to create this zoom in lenticular image, the operator atcomputer 203 will scan the entire image frame, which can be on anegative or print, or be supplied digitally. The person of interest isthen identified by drawing a reference box around that person on thecomputer display. This frame will correspond to the final view in thesequence. An algorithm or imaging tool will then create the intermediateframes. The operator can then observe a simulated image to ensure that apleasing effect has been produced before printing the image.

[0024] The creation of the simulated image involves accurately modelingaspects of the lenticular imaging process. These aspects can include:

[0025] 1. Modeling the color of the final image.

[0026] 2. Simulating the optical performance of the lenticular materialeither across the entire viewing range (where changes in optical viewingperformance vary as a function of viewing angle) or by performing afixed estimation of the optical performance of the lenticular material.

[0027] 3. Simulating the appearance of the lenticules as seen by theviewer at his viewing distance.

[0028] 4. Simulating the resolution characteristics of the image bearingmember 105 a.

[0029] 5. Simulating the spot size or writing characteristics or both ofthe printer 206.

[0030] 6. Providing a perspective view of the overall image as the anglechanges with respect to the viewer.

[0031] 7. Compensating for the illumination conditions where the finalimage is viewed.

[0032] The operator of computer 203 can have available to him a varietyof different algorithms or tools to generate different “zooming in”effects. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, one “zooming in” effect startsat the fill image 400 and at the next frame (or at some subsequentframe), the segment 401 of the image shown by dots fills the fulllenticular image by zooming in to the segment 401. A subsequent framewould comprise the image content 402 filling the full lenticular image.Finally the final frames include the view of interest constituting afull view which is a zoomed up version of the content of crop box 403.

[0033] One disadvantage of this approach is that there is a large amountof motion associated with zooming in across the entire image. This canlead to considerable motion blur which may not be pleasing to theviewer.

[0034] An alternate approach is shown in FIG. 5. The crop box 501 ischosen and subsequent images expand the size of the cropped image whilethe area 502 outside the cropped image corresponds to the original image500. The advantage of this approach is that it introduces less motionblur.

[0035] It will be appreciated that according to the invention more thanone person may be zoomed into or that throughout the entire lenticularimage sequence, one person may be zoomed into and then another one. Asshown in FIG. 6, the original view 600 includes several people. Usingtwo crop boxes 601 and 602 around different individuals, the croppedimages can be expanded to zoom into the full image area. Thus, twoindividuals are seen side-by-side in area 603 and 604 in the final view.This expansion can be carried simultaneously or sequentially.

[0036] In the examples shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the crop box(es) can movelaterally, diagonally, or vertically as it grows to fill the entireavailable final view. Thus in FIG. 8, the original image 800 has a cropbox 801 in the corner of the image identifying an area to be zoomed inon the cropped image is expanded diagonally through views 802, 803 tofinal image 804.

[0037]FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention withoriginal view 700. As shown, the crop box need not expand to fill theentire final image but may leave some of the image area to correspond tothe original image. Thus crop box 701 expands to fill the area boundedby lines 702, 703, 704, 705. In addition it is possible that the cropbox expands to fill the area in the final image bounded by lines 702,706, 704, and 707 such that both the zoomed in view of individual 708and the original view appear simultaneously in the final image. If theperson 709 is to be zoomed in on, then it is possible to move theoriginal view of person 709 to the left while maintaining his size. As aresult, the zoomed in view of person 709 appears in the area bounded bylines 702, 707, 704, and 706, while the final position is at 710.

[0038] In practicing any of the embodiments of the present inventiondiscussed above, the intermediate images generated between the originalimage and the final zoomed in image can be processed with differentimaging effects to render the lenticular image more pleasing or thelike. Thus, the intermediate images can be blurred, can have reducedtonal range (e.g., darkened), can have different color range, or canhave other visual effects to enhance the overall lenticular image.

[0039] The invention has been described in detail with particularreference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will beunderstood that variations and modifications can be effected within thespirit and scope of the invention.

PARTS LIST

[0040]10 lenticular image product

[0041]12 lenticular material

[0042]101, 102, 103, 104 lenticules

[0043]101 a, 102 a, 103 a, 104 a cylindrical lenses

[0044]105 lenticular image

[0045]105 a image bearing layer

[0046]106 image strip

[0047]107 observer

[0048]200 apparatus

[0049]201 source image material

[0050]202 scanner

[0051]203 computer

[0052]204 digital lenticular image file

[0053]206 printer

[0054]300 still photograph

[0055]301, 302, 303 individuals

[0056]400 original image

[0057]401 segment

[0058]402 image content

[0059]403 crop box

[0060]500 original image

[0061]501 crop box

[0062]502 area outside of cropped image

[0063]600 original view

[0064]601, 602 crop boxes

[0065]603, 604 final view

[0066]700 original view

[0067]701 crop box

[0068]702, 703, 704, 705, 706, 707 lines

[0069]708 individual

[0070]709, 709 a person

[0071]710 final position

[0072]800 original image

[0073]801 crop box

[0074]802, 803 views

[0075]804 final image

What is claimed is:
 1. A lenticular image product comprising: alenticular material having an array of lenticules with cylindricallenses; and a lenticular image associated with said lenticular material,said lenticular image having an original image having a wide angle viewand at least one final image having a narrow angle view created fromsaid original image, such that relative movement between said lenticularimage product and a viewer produces a zoom effect between said originaland final images.
 2. The lenticular image product of claim 1 whereinsaid lenticular image includes one or more intermediate images createdfrom said original image or said final image to enhance said zoomeffect.
 3. The lenticular image product of claim 2 wherein said one ormore intermediate images present sequentially narrower angle viewsintermediate said original and final images.
 4. The lenticular imageproduct of claim 2 wherein said one or more intermediate images presentsequentially larger images of said final view with said original imagein the background.
 5. The lenticular image product of claim 1 whereintwo or more final views having narrow angles of view are created fromsaid original image.
 6. The lenticular image product of claim 2 whereinsaid one or more intermediate images are processed with a visual effect,including blurring, reduced tonal range, modified color range, toenhance the overall lenticular image.
 7. The lenticular image product ofclaim 1 wherein said final image can appear to move laterally,diagonally or vertically as it expands to fill the full final image. 8.The lenticular image product of claim 1 wherein said lenticular image isformed in an image layer which is integral with said lenticularmaterial.
 9. The lenticular image product of claim 1 wherein saidlenticular image is formed in a separate image layer which is joined tosaid lenticular material.
 10. A method of producing a lenticular imageproduct having a zoom effect comprising: providing an original imagehaving a wide angle view; creating at least one final image having anarrow angle view from said original image; and forming a lenticularimage product from said original and final views.
 11. The method ofclaim 10 including selecting a portion of said original image to becreated into said at least one final image.
 12. The method of claim 10including displaying said original image on an electronic display;selecting the portion of said original image corresponding to a finalimage; creating intermediate electronic images; and creating a simulatedelectronic lenticular image for display on said display to insure that apleasing effect has been produced before forming said lenticular imageproduct.
 13. The method of claim 12 wherein said original image isprovided by scanning a physical manifestation of said original image toproduce a digital original image.
 14. The method of claim 12 wherein increating a simulated electronic digital image involves modeling one ormore of the following aspects of the lenticular imaging process:modeling the color of the final image; simulating the opticalperformance of the lenticular material either across the entire viewingrange (where changes in optical viewing performance vary as a functionof viewing angle) or by performing a fixed estimation of the opticalperformance of the lenticular material; simulating the appearance of thelenticules as seen by the viewer at his viewing distance; simulating theresolution characteristics of the image bearing member; simulating thespot size or writing characteristics or both of the printer; providing aperspective view of the overall image as the angle changes with respectto the viewer; and compensating for the illumination conditions wherethe final image is viewed.
 15. A lenticular image product comprising: alenticular material having an array of lenticules with cylindricallenses; and a lenticular image associated with said lenticular material,said lenticular image having an original image and one or moreadditional images which have been created from said original image, saidoriginal image and said additional images producing a zoom effect.